"Blessed are the mothers of the earth for they have combined the
practical and the spiritual into one workable way of human life. They have
darned little socks, mended little dresses, washed little faces, and have
pointed little eyes to the stars, and little souls to eternal things."

"Walking uplifts the spirit. Breathe out the poisons of tension, stress,
and worry; breathe in the power of God. Send forth little silent prayers of
goodwill toward those you meet. Walk with a sense of being a part of a vast
universe. Consider the thousands of miles beneath your feet, think of the
limitless expanse of space above your head. Walk in awe, wonder and
humility. Walk at all times of the day — in the early morning when the world
is just waking up, late at night under the stars, along a busy city street
at noontime."

"Though there is no substitute for intelligence, it is not enough. There
are human beings who have intelligence but do not have the moral courage to
act on it. On the other hand, moral courage without intelligence is
dangerous. It leads to fanaticism. Education should develop both
intelligence and courage."

"Aristotle discovered three kinds of friendship worthy of the name. The
first is based on utility; an example would be a friendship between people
who do business together. The second has its roots in a quest for pleasure;
it can be seen in the case of friendship between amusing or quick-witted
persons. The third is the best; in it each friend seeks nothing beyond the
company and the happiness of the other.

Most poets who write about friendship mean only Aristotle’s third and
best kind, while in everyday speech we commonly refer to all three types as
if they were the same."

"The Christian view is: in the reality which I have and am now, there is
a possibility for growth which God has put there. There’s a seed God has
planted and is going to make grow; what I have to provide is the love and
the assent that’s going to permit it to grow."

"Leaders make themselves and others comfortable in a changing world. They
eagerly explore new ideas, approaches, and cultures rather than shrink
defensively from what lurks around life’s next corner. Anchored by
nonnegotiable principles and values, they cultivate the ‘indifference’ that
allows them to adapt confidently."

"1. Positive Thinking:Success begins in your mind — Dr.
Norman Vincent Peal suggests that our thoughts and images are mainly
responsible for how we feel…A positive emotion is created by positive
thoughts and images.…Dr. Peale says, ‘A problem is a concentrated
opportunity…I often say, when the Lord wants to give you the greatest value
in this world, he doesn’t wrap it in a sophisticated package and hand it to
you on a silver platter…He takes this big value and buries it at the heart
of a big, tough problem.…Everybody I’ve ever known who succeeded in a big
way in life has done so by breaking problems apart and finding the value
that was there.’"

Ted Williams had a lot of guts. When he hit .406 in 1941 he came into the
last day of the season with 179 hits in 448 official at bats. That’s an
average of just under .400 — or .39955, to be exact. In baseball, if your
average is more than halfway between .399 and .400
— you are given the
higher figure. So, Ted was listed at .400 and that’s the way it would have
gone into the record books, too.

Here it was the last day and his manager suggested that Williams sit out
the double-header scheduled for the last day of the season to make sure that
his average stayed at .400. It was a rare feat to hit .400 for a season (it
hadn’t been done for eleven years before that…), and Williams was told not
to take the chance of having a bad day and dropping his average a few
points.

But Williams stated, "If I’m going to be the batting champion, I’m going
to win it like a champion." He played both games of the double-header, and
got six hits in eight times at bat to lift his average six points on the
last day of the season, to .406. That took the courage of confidence.

Many years ago, while on a visit to America, a wealthy businessman was
fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study
crystals and flower petals, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he
decided to purchase one of these instruments of marvels and take it back to
his country.

He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined a few grains of
rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered
that tiny living creatures were crawling on the grains. Since he was
especially fond of this staple food in his daily diet, he wondered what to
do. Finally, he concluded that there was only one way out of this dilemma —
he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover this distasteful
fact! So he smashed the microscope to pieces.

"How foolish!" you say, "those little critters are still there even if he
chooses not to see them." But how many people do the same thing with the
Word of God? They try to rid themselves of it because it reveals their
sinful nature.

The next "Apple Seeds"® planting
will be in September.
Plant these "seeds" well
and water often. Enjoy!